{"id":754423,"date":"2026-06-07T00:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/754423\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T00:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T00:03:13","slug":"bulls-looking-to-make-move-in-2026-draft-and-potential-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/754423\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Looking To Make Move In 2026 Draft and Potential Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls<\/a> and new executive vice president Bryson Graham have a lot of things to figure out this offseason. Graham was hired last month to be the Bulls\u2019 top decision maker after spending last season with the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> as their senior vice president.<\/p>\n

Bulls Looking To Make Move Up or Down In 2026 Draft?<\/p>\n

Graham helped turn the Hawks into the team that won the most games (46) since 2015-16.\u00a0 He is also known for his keen scouting eye.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re excited to name Bryson Graham as our executive vice president of basketball operations. Bryson is an elite talent evaluator who has earned tremendous respect across the league, and that stood out immediately during our process,\u201d Bulls president and chief executive officer\u00a0Michael Reinsdorf<\/a> said at Graham\u2019s press conference.<\/p>\n

Before his lone season in Atlanta, Graham held many titles with the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> from 2010, getting promoted to assistant general manager in\u00a0 2019 and general manager in 2024. He helped the Pelicans make several big-time draft selections: \u00a0Trey Murphy III<\/a>\u00a0(drafted 17th),\u00a0Herbert Jones<\/a>\u00a0(35th),\u00a0Dyson Daniels<\/a>\u00a0(eighth) and\u00a0Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a>\u00a0(17th).<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s tremendous draft record is outstanding news for the Bulls. Chicago owns the No. 4 and No. 15 picks in the first round. They also hold the No. 38 and No. 56 in the second round.<\/p>\n

What Are The Bulls\u2019 Needs?<\/p>\n

Chicago is undergoing a complete reset, with hiring a head coach among Graham\u2019s primary goals over the next week or so. The Bulls are reportedly in the initial stage of their coaching. Some of the names that the Bulls are reportedly interested in are BYU head coach Kevin Young<\/a>, Wes Unseld Jr. (Bulls assistant), Micah Nori<\/a> (Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> assistant), Tiago Splitter<\/a> (Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> HC), Johnie Bryant<\/a> (Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> assistant), Jerry Stackhouse<\/a> (Golden State Warriors<\/a> assistant), and Lamar Skeeter<\/a> (Charlotte Hornets<\/a> assistant)<\/p>\n

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Sam Smith of Bulls.com <\/a>said that he believes the Bulls may hire a coach by the middle of the month.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like mid-June, which is enough time before the Draft, though the coach usually doesn\u2019t have much to do with that,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Chicago has 10 players under contract in 2026 with a salary cap hit of $93.6 million. Two of those players, Mouhamadou Guye<\/a> ($2.4 million) and Leonard Miller<\/a> ($2.4 million),\u00a0 have club options. Miller, who has been extremely efficient in his NBA career, stepped up his production after the Bulls acquired him at the trade deadline from Minnesota. The 22-year-old averaged 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds with shooting splits of 55.5\/35.6\/76.2.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe Bulls have $2.4 million team options on Miller and Gueye,\u201d Joe Crowley of the Chicago Sun-Times opined when talking about the Bulls\u2019 forwards<\/a>. \u201cMiller played well enough to have his option picked up and get a serious look as a rotation player.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201c[Matas] Buzelis<\/a> and [Noa] Essengue<\/a> are on rookie deals, so they aren\u2019t going anywhere,\u201d Crowley continued. \u201cThen there\u2019s [Patrick] Williams<\/a> and his unmovable contract (three years and $54 million left). After that, no one is guaranteed to return. [Isaac] Okoro<\/a> has one year left on his deal and would be a defensive finishing piece on a playoff team, and [Jalen] Smith<\/a> has $9.4 million left on an expiring deal and would be an ideal acquisition for some stretch help. [Guerschon] Yabusele<\/a> will be elsewhere.<\/p>\n

In addition to Buzelis and Essengue, Josh Giddey<\/a> is part of the Bulls\u2019 core, while Rob Dillingham<\/a> will likely be back in the backcourt. Giddey has manned the point a good part of the last two seasons, and while the Bulls project to run most of their offense through the Australian, he may be best suited for the two. Dillingham was the most productive of his career after being acquired from the Wolves, though he wasn\u2019t overly efficient.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that the Bulls are starting over, have lots of areas of need, and have about $70 million in cap space this offseason. A starting point guard or elite 2-way guard is the Bulls\u2019 biggest need to go alongside Giddey. The Bulls also need to add shooting with a specific eye on \u201c3-and-D\u201d wings. They will also likely build up their draft capital.<\/p>\n

Bulls Looking To Make Move Up or Down In 2026 Draft?<\/p>\n

Chicago is projected to take Caleb Wilson<\/a> or Cam Boozer,<\/a> if he were to drop, with the No. 4 pick. Both players are intriguing prospects and would allow Buzelis to play his more natural 3 more often.<\/p>\n

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According to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune<\/a>, Wilson projects to have the highest athletic upside<\/a> of the projected top four draft picks, as he is an explosive finisher and an elite motor. More importantly, his length and mobility allow him to be a switchable, high-impactful defender who can protect the rim and recover when in a help position.<\/p>\n

Offensively, Wilson is capable of being more than just a lob threat. The 19-year-old can get to the rim and has shown the ability to score at the mid-post, with turnaround jumpers being his bread and butter. He is also an outstanding offensive rebounder with some face-up potential. However, his jumper still needs work.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Boozer, if he somehow falls out of the top three, is the ideal fit for the Bulls<\/a>, or for the Bulls if they move up in the draft. Multiple outlets previously reported<\/a> that the Bulls have been in contact with the Washington Wizards<\/a> about the No. 1 overall pick.\u00a0 Boozer\u2019s combination of strength, touch, IQ, and versatility is exactly what the teams lack.\u00a0 The Duke product can be a primary or secondary scorer. During the NBA combine, he said he wouldn\u2019t mind playing in Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Bulls are Seriously Considering Trading the No. 4 or No. 15 Picks<\/p>\n

However, neither Boozer<\/a> nor Wilson has gone through individual workouts with the Bulls. Moreover, the Bulls have been focusing most of their workouts on guards. Thus, begging the question whether the Bulls are interested in moving down from the No. 4 pickand\/orr up from the No. 15 selection.<\/p>\n

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One of the guards who has worked out recently for the Bulls is Darius Acuff Jr, who is projected to be a top-8 pick, per Bleacher Report\u2019s Jonathan Wasserman<\/a>. Acuff was at the Bulls facility yesterday.<\/p>\n

Acuff had one of the most productive freshman seasons by a guard in NCAA history, as he could score from anywhere. He is very skilled and doesn\u2019t make many mistakes. However, there are questions about his defense. Keaton Wagler,<\/a> Kingston Flemings<\/a>, and Mikel Brown Jr.<\/a> are other guards who don\u2019t project to be around by the time the Bulls make their second pick at No. 15.\u00a0 Nate Ament<\/a> and Morez Johnson Jr.<\/a> are bigs who are projected mid-first-round picks who have also worked out for the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould be a great Draft night,\u201d Smith said when answering whether the Bulls are considering trading No. 4 or No. 15 picks. The latter part seems due diligence since you never know who\u2019ll suddenly begin to fall, as Matas did to 11 when a week before that 2024 Draft he supposedly was a sure top five; maybe seven, but not likely. Just about every mock draft has Caleb Wilson to the Bulls at No. 4. \u201cThe wild card, to me, is Utah at No. 2, in part because it\u2019s also Danny Ainge, who has a history of Draft Day surprises. The Jazz have tanked themselves to a heck of a talented roster,\u201d Smith continued.<\/p>\n

Other Players Who Have Worked Out With the Bulls<\/p>\n

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Photo credit: David Banks, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bulls and new executive vice president Bryson Graham have a lot of things to figure out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[208,7,10759,19366,920,9477,10774,473,919,329,3824,193,206,4436,164,6513,423,965,42824,14489,152,2053,18339,6,671,470,379,14624,471,977,15840,6514,468,6783],"class_list":["post-754423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bulls","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball","tag-boozer","tag-bryson-graham","tag-bulls","tag-buzelis","tag-cam-boozer","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chicagobulls","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-dyson-daniels","tag-executive-vice-president","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-herbert-jones","tag-jazz","tag-josh-giddey","tag-keaton-wagler","tag-leonard-miller","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-morez-johnson-jr","tag-nate-ament","tag-nba","tag-nets","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-nickeil-alexander-walker","tag-okoro","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-rob-dillingham","tag-tiago-splitter","tag-trey-murphy-iii","tag-washington-wizards","tag-yabusele"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}